Injuries are beginning to pile up for the Golden State Warriors. Forward Marquese Chriss suffered a broken right leg Saturday and will undergo surgery, the team announced Sunday. Chriss, who has bounced around from team to team in his six-year career, found a home with the Warriors after putting up the best numbers in his career after being signed there last season. Golden State gave Chriss a partially guaranteed contract toward the end of the 2019-20 season, and fully guaranteed the entirety of it, which will earn him $1.82 million.
Chriss averaged 9.3 points and 6.2 rebounds in 59 games with the Warriors last season, playing 20 minutes a game on a team that was missing all of its key players. Chriss shouldered a bulk of the minutes at center for them last season, but after the team drafted 7-foot-1 big man James Wiseman with the No. 2 overall pick, and got Kevon Looney back from a season hampered with injures that required him to received surgery and miss majority of the season, Chriss’ place on the depth chart was reshuffled.
In the first two games of the season, Chriss averaged 13 minutes, essentially splitting the backup center minutes with Looney, as Wiseman has shown to be a quick study for a rookie early on in the season. While Chriss wasn’t an integral piece for the Warriors, his presence gave them depth in the frontcourt, and his performance last season showed that he was growing in this league. It will also put more responsibility on Wiseman’s shoulders, now that the Warriors are a little thinner in the frontcourt, but hopefully the return of Draymond Green, who has yet to make his season debut with a foot injury, will make up for the injuries Golden State has racked up.
The injury comes at a tough time for Chriss, whose value takes a hit ahead of becoming an unrestricted free agent He only played in two games this season and before that the last time he played was in March due to last season getting shut down because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Golden State has started the season 0-2, with both losses being blowouts to the Nets and the Bucks, the latter of which was a 43-point embarrassment on Christmas Day. The Warriors limped into this season much like the last one as Klay Thompson suffered a torn Achilles tendon during practice before the season started, costing him a second-consecutive season of his career. Green missed a bulk of training camp due to contracting COVID-19, and two-time MVP Stephen Curry is still working his way back from a broken hand that cost him a bulk of last season.
At full strength, this Warriors team is a surefire playoff squad, and a team that should be considered a championship contender. But as it stands right now, Golden State is looking at another long, dark season that may not yield much success.
